Corion Cooper interview

Ricky Kaye

07/14/2003

Corion Cooper was the second high school standout to commit to the Arizona Wildcats for the recruiting class of 2004. He gave Coach Charley Dickey his verbal commitment shortly after attending Coach John Mackovic's Arizona summer camp for high school standouts.

Cat Tracks caught up with Corion Cooper, the Desert Vista wide receiver, during a break in his dedicated summer workout regimen that has already produced results. The talented speedster covered almost as much ground in our interview as he has this summer while attending camps throughout the west.

CAT TRACKS: Corion, one thing we would like to ask you right off is how tall you are. I'm sure you've heard the reports listing you as anywhere from 5-11 to 6-1?

CORION COOPER: "I'm actually a little over 6-feet without shoes on, so I'd say I'm 6-1. The USC camp made me look shorter because of the way they measured me. They listed me at 5-11, but they did it to everybody. I had a pretty good summer with camps. I'd say I did what I had to do."

CT: How many camps did you attend?

CC: "I went to a camp at Stanford, a camp in Thousand Oaks and camps at USC and Arizona."

CT: Which was the best camp you attended?

CC: "The best camp that I learned a lot at was the one in Thousand Oaks. If anyone wants to learn and get better character, they should go to that camp. It's run by two guys named Henry Bell and Ron Allen. Henry Bell played at Purdue and Ron Allen played at UCLA. They were both defensive backs in college. There were a lot of people there. Tyler Ebell was there, Glenn Bragg, the receiver from USC, was there."

CT: How was the UA camp?

CC: "The UofA camp was good too. I learned a lot. Mose Rison really showed me a lot."

CT: Did you get to have any interaction with Coach Mackovic?

CC: "I had a couple of conversations with Coach Mackovic."

CT: We heard that Coach Mack said he wished you were going to be at the UA this year.

CC: "He told Ryan O'Hara that he wished he had me this year."

CT: There have been several players come to the UA who have been influenced by Ryan O'Hara. What is it about this guy? Did you spend a lot of time with him?

CC: "I kicked it and hung out with Ryan a lot. I hung out with him most of the time and he showed me the ropes. Ryan is a good guy. He's cool, laid back and relaxed. The first time I saw him, I walked in on him watching film. He's watching film at his house all the time. When you have a quarterback like that it tells you he is serious about winning."

CC: "Bobby is leaving the 23rd of July. Bobby is like my big brother. I hang out with him 24-7. Bobby and Andrae Thurman help me in football. They have been my mentors because I never played Pop Warner and I mainly played basketball in high school until the last part of my junior year."

CT: Exactly how fast are you now?

CC: "I run a 4.46. I'm trying to improve my speed all the time and get faster and faster."

CT: How much do you weigh now?

CC: "I'm weighing in now at 190. I've picked up weight from hitting the weights hard and taking protein. I want to go into UA at 6-1, 200 pounds."

CT: Has Bobby talked to you a lot about being stronger and about how physical the position can be in college ball.

CC: "Yes. You have to be stronger than that DB so strength always helps."

CT: How is Desert Vista going to be this year in football?

CC: "We're looking real good. I think we will come out and surprise a lot of teams. We should be in the top five in the state because talent-wise we're real good."

CT: Doesn't Desert Vista have some other D-1 prospects?

CC:"Zach Miller is the No. 1 tight end in the country. There is Gino Cruz who is going to be one of the top defensive linemen in the country. I'm pretty sure that once the season starts there will be more."

CT: There had been a report on an Internet recruiting site that Zach had committed to ASU. Have you heard anything?

CC: "Zach has not made up his mind. He was over at my house a little while ago and I was trying to convince him, "don't forget about the Arizona Wildcats." I think Arizona will move up in his top five or six pretty soon."

CT: How do you think Arizona is going to do this year?

CC: "I think Arizona is going to do fairly decent. I think the recruiting class coming up in 2004 is going to set the tempo for them to take that Rose Bowl step."